Amplifier Acquisition Feedback

[EricMusco]

Hey folks,

 

The purpose of this thread is to provide feedback specifically on the acquisition of amplifiers. Keep in mind this thread is not to share thoughts on the effectiveness of amplifiers, that will be covered in a later phase of PTS. In fact, most amplifiers either do not function, or do something different than what is listed. Also, note that not all amplifiers are implemented yet, so expect to see some additional amp effects in a later PTS build. Refer to the known issues list for specifics. Here are some things to keep in mind when providing feedback:

• Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)
  
• Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?
  
• Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?
  

Thanks all!

 

-eric

Edited August 29, 2019 by EricMusco

[Pandoras_Jar]

Hey everyone

 

Thought I'd link my Amplifiers Guide here from 1.5. A couple of things have probably changed since 1.5 but at the very least it'll give you a bit of an idea of the different types of Amps on different slots.

 

Game Update 6.0 Amplifiers Guide

 

To the Devs,

 

I'm just going to come out and say I'm not a big fan of this system. I see from the stream that you guys have reduced the cost to recalibrate Amps which is appreciated. But still, feel this system is just a massive RNG infested credit sync. As much as you guys insist it's a supplementary system, I somehow doubt that'll be the case for PvPers and Raiders. Hopefully, thorough balancing testing can be done in phase 3 to determine the impact this system will have on Raids and PvP. But for now, I'm very concerned.

 

Will provide more feedback once I've had the chance to test 'aquisition' (though I doubt much has changed form 1.5).

Edited August 29, 2019 by Pandoras_Jar

[Raansu]

Hey everyone

 

Thought I'd link my Amplifiers Guide here from 1.5. A couple of things have probably changed since 1.5 but at the very least it'll give you a bit of an idea of the different types of Amps on different slots.

 

Game Update 6.0 Amplifiers Guide

 

To the Devs,

 

I'm just going to come out and say I'm not a big fan of this system. I see from the stream that you guys have reduced the cost to recalibrate Amps which is appreciated. But still, feel this system is just a massive RNG infested credit sync. As much as you guys insist it's a supplementary system, I somehow doubt that'll be the case for PvPers and Raiders. Hopefully, thorough balancing testing can be done in phase 3 to determine the impact this system will have on Raids and PvP. But for now, I'm very concerned.

 

Will provide more feedback once I've had the chance to test 'aquisition' (though I doubt much has changed form 1.5).

 

Ya I agree this is horrible. The RNG is just too much and pvp is going to become a nightmare with amps and tacts.

[dracmor]

Quick impression from about 4 hours of testing, with only four pieces of gear having an amp, and none of these gear were actually modded (I don't know if that makes a difference or not; maybe I had issue because only mod items should have amps and these should not have had any amps? Bug? Intended?)

 

Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only) No, not at all. The tooltip UI did not work properly and would get stuck on one amp description - i.e. it would give the description say for Medtech no matter what amp was actually present in the recalibrate box. One could mostly guess from the names what it would do but the ony way to be sure was to update the amp and look at the tooltip. It was also not clear what amps I could possibly get from any given slot. It appears the implant amp I had would only affect crafting - ok, didn't take too long to figure out. But the head piece amp I have no real idea what it is cycling through as I got everything from aural defense to first strike to medtech etc.

 

Suggestion: A comprehensive of amps and what slots they are tied should be in the Codex (in game) and/or the recalibrate box should list or have a tooltip that would show you what type of amps can be rolled when you recalibrate.

 

Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier? Yes and no. It was clear to click on Recalibrate to make it reroll. However, when I clicked on Update there was no UI affect to show that it had actually updated the amp. I would normally have to close the window and look at the item tooltip to verify that the update had actually applied.

 

Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low? Ultimately way too high and the whole process felt like a scam.

 

Suggestions: I would like to suggest a way to lock an amp, even if it cost credits. Basically a locked amp would go no lower than it's current value or thereabouts - i.e. I managed to roll a 6.6% on first strike, if I locked this amp and then recalibrated then I would get 6.6% on whatever pops up (or at least something close to it, like 6%). The cost of locking the amp would scale with the value of the amp (i.e. to lock a 6% amp would be way more than locking a 2% amp). Just as a test I tried recalibrating to see if I could get the 6.6% on a different type of amp. I was up to 100K a click and I think the highest value I saw was 3.9%. So my choice would seem to either be to settle with the higher percent with something I may not necessarily desire or to settle with a lower percent when I finally roll an amp I do desire to have. This doesn't at all feel like "play my way"; it feels entirely like a credit-burning trap that will ultimately frustrate many players.

 

Alternative: if locking the amps seems too strong or not feasible, then I would suggest that rerolling should have a fixed cost for each and every roll (something low, like 1 or 5K). Then you would pay extra when you actually updated the amp - and this cost would again scale with the value of the amp.

 

Just my two cents on the matter.

[Raansu]

This doesn't at all feel like "play my way"; it feels entirely like a credit-burning trap that will ultimately frustrate many players.

 

Which I imagine is the entire point of this systems existence. I get inflation is a massive problem, but this kind of credit sink will just make players mad with the level of rng it has.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Raansu

[_Harbinger]

Heya, overall system is ok, good credits sink.

Also, Life stealing amplifier is not working. rolled 5% in enhancement (placed in offhand), no green numbers, no selfhealing in starparse.

[Medullah]

For Amplifiers, if you modify a piece of gear (where you see what the amplifier does), the tooltip does not update if you click to modify another piece of gear.

 

For example, I got a belt with a +140 Fortuitous Redoubt amplifer. Hovering over it shows the description, but then I open another belt I got with a +0.60 Aural Command, hovering over the tooltip still shows the description of Fortuitous Redoubt.

 

Also, please disable these things in PvP. You said "Gearing doesn't matter anymore in PvP!" with Bolster, but now we have to deal with total RNG.

[FlameYOL]

• Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)
  

No, the descriptions are bugged as some amplifiers show the same text as others. By the UI alone I cannot tell what they do because I'm not even sure if the description is what they do, or that is just a bug and the actual effect is something else completely. Those descriptions need to be fixed so we can properly test it.

 

• Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?
  

Yes, that much is very clear. Though I had a problem with it as when I clicked to update an amplifier it didn't changed. So I was stuck with the original amplified even if I clicked the upgrade button, or re-rolled again and tried to put yet another amplifier.

 

• Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?
  

It feels fine, even with the increases (This game is sorely in need of new credit sinks anyway) the only question I have is do the cost increases ever "reset"? Weekly? Daily? Monthly? Or no matter how many days you wait after re-rolling your amplifiers for the 100th time the price to re-roll will just increase indefinitely?

[LordCamTheGreat]

The amplifier system honestly seems horribly bloated, unnecessary and unnecessarily costly.

 

Imo, the percentage values should be done away with completely and there should be a single flat bonus for each different amplifier. Thus you only reroll to get the specific amplifier that you want, rather than rerolling for the amplifier and hoping and praying you can somehow get a higher percentage after sinking thousands upon thousands of credits into it - which most players don't have millions upon millions of lying around after their gtn farm sessions.

 

Recalibration costs get really, really expensive after a while. There definitely needs to be an upper limit to the cost and a daily/ weekly reset on recalibrating costs.

 

You should be able to recalibrate the amplifier and the percentage bonus separately. If this doesn't happen, and if the system stays as it is, I probably won't spend much time at all wasting time, credits and patience on the amplifier system. The concept seems interesting, but is far too bloated and the recalibration system is rng at its worst.

[SnEaKyMan]

Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do?

 

Yes. Easy to hover and see what amplifiers I have.

No it was not easy to see what they do. The WIP UI was not updating the description correctly and you have to lockin and close the window and reopen to hover back over to get a better description.

 

Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?

Yes. Press button and see new potential amplifiers to select instead of the current one. IF you dont like it keep re-rolling.

 

Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?

Keeping in mind how much it costs to rip out augments and put augments in. The re-rolling is already way too expensive. Especially depending on the selection only being 2 amplifiers to pick from, needing to constantly re-roll AND there are times where the two you can pick from are actually the same amplifier with a higher or lower % of that stat...doesnt make sense.

 

Lastly,

 

Is it expected to allow the same amplifiers on all the gear?

 

Because you say amplifiers are not needed and if they're too complicated than "just dont use them", but if you get all the same added up, you can make up around 10% MORE healing which is a big deal and will definitely put you at an advantage over someone who hasn't or in this situation make healing easier.

Edited August 30, 2019 by SnEaKyMan

[omaan]

Hey folks,

 

The purpose of this thread is to provide feedback specifically on the acquisition of amplifiers. Keep in mind this thread is not to share thoughts on the effectiveness of amplifiers, that will be covered in a later phase of PTS. In fact, most amplifiers either do not function, or do something different than what is listed. Also, note that not all amplifiers are implemented yet, so expect to see some additional amp effects in a later PTS build. Refer to the known issues list for specifics. Here are some things to keep in mind when providing feedback:

• Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)
  
• Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?
  
• Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?
  

Thanks all!

 

-eric

 

Turn them off for pvp or let pvp players choose freely all amps they want which will work only in pvp

[ThrawnFanatic]

My main piece of advice would be to increase the 'possible' rolls for the amplifiers to 3 instead of 2.

[DreadtechSavant]

Hey everyone

 

Thought I'd link my Amplifiers Guide here from 1.5. A couple of things have probably changed since 1.5 but at the very least it'll give you a bit of an idea of the different types of Amps on different slots.

 

Game Update 6.0 Amplifiers Guide

 

To the Devs,

 

I'm just going to come out and say I'm not a big fan of this system. I see from the stream that you guys have reduced the cost to recalibrate Amps which is appreciated. But still, feel this system is just a massive RNG infested credit sync. As much as you guys insist it's a supplementary system, I somehow doubt that'll be the case for PvPers and Raiders. Hopefully, thorough balancing testing can be done in phase 3 to determine the impact this system will have on Raids and PvP. But for now, I'm very concerned.

 

Will provide more feedback once I've had the chance to test 'aquisition' (though I doubt much has changed form 1.5).

 

I liked it, fun, not too expensive certainly not for level 75 characters. Don't see why it ever be an issue in Raids but sure maybe in PvP. Maybe BW could just have an off switch when in side PvP areas or instance, if it does become an issue. You are far more likely to know if its an issue than I am. Overall I like it, much more fun to have and takes off a little of the sting of how bad crafting is going to be. Well at least for me,

[Raansu]

I liked it, fun, not too expensive certainly not for level 75 characters. Don't see why it ever be an issue in Raids but sure maybe in PvP. Maybe BW could just have an off switch when in side PvP areas or instance, if it does become an issue. You are far more likely to know if its an issue than I am. Overall I like it, much more fun to have and takes off a little of the sting of how bad crafting is going to be. Well at least for me,

 

Its going to be a huge problem for pvp.

[Ahwassa]

I find this roll system interesting.

But the rng factor is to high.

 

It would be better if it gave only class relevant amplifiers and if it wouldn´t give you a lower version of the amplifier you already have.

 

Please consider it - I like the variety but it needs a little adjustment to not be frustrating.

[geofraynils]

Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)

No, description does not change until we push more than one time recalibration. I've to close and open the window to see the new description at each change i want to make.

 

Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier? (from the UI only)

Yes seems easy.

 

Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?

To high and to much random. Just an idea that would be great, add a second button to change only the value of % without changing the effect (with more cost and time rest for this but higher chance to see an interesting/max value as there is no chance having amplifier we don't want)

A great cost would be start at 5000 augment 250 by 250 credits for normal.

Maybe 20 times more 100 000 augmented by 10 000 to avoid any other amplifier pop.

 

Used around 20M credit to change only 1 amplifier on chest and find an interesting one...

 

Some of them seems not working (defensive healing, overward)

Edited August 31, 2019 by geofraynils

[geofraynils]

I find this roll system interesting.

But the rng factor is to high.

 

It would be better if it gave only class relevant amplifiers and if it wouldn´t give you a lower version of the amplifier you already have.

 

Please consider it - I like the variety but it needs a little adjustment to not be frustrating.

 

Agree with that

[ZionHalcyon]

So my impression is this:

 

Without the guide attached to this feedback friend, I would have had no clue what any of the amplifiers did or what my selection was from.

 

However, I think I get the gist of what they're supposed to be oh, and I think the system itself is fine.

 

I think for all the things that were put into the game this is the one thing that was priced appropriately.

 

Once I had it figured out, we Rollin to the thing I wanted was perfect.

 

It needs some spit and polish and better descriptions of what's available on each item and what they do, but other than that I think this is a pretty damn good system.

[Banthabreeder]

Today I learned that after I opened my Character window and clicked on the Amplifiers button, the list that pops up is not only the gear your wearing but any gear you may have in your inventory. This is not good. When floating your cursor over the tiny Gear icons it doesn't tell you whether the item is on you or in your inventory. Again, not good.

 

To make it simple, I believe it should only show you the gear your wearing.

[Pauly]

Hey everyone: remember click the booster terminal on Odessen a bunch of times for credits, go buy tons of the new medpacks, and disassemble for lots of Tech Fragments (did 700 at time before hitting the 3000 cap). Do this over and over to test out the system. I did this for about three hours tonight and have min/maxed green 270 gear and then you can test out the Kai Zaikken gear too. With the credits you can also play around with the amplifiers.

[Aries_cz]

Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)

Once I discovered it is in the tooltip when modding the item, yes. Prior to that, I was scratching my head as to what things like "Force Harmonization" were.

However, the WIP UI is bugged, so it does not update the tooltips correctly when rerolling. It should also autoclose when you select one from the rerolled options.

 

Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?

One I discovered the Amplifiers button in the character screen, yes. Before that, I had no idea how to recalibrate left side of the screen, which cannot be modded.

 

Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?

I guess about right.

 

Some other thoughts on the system

 

In general, the system is a good idea, although as others have said, it is going to be a nightmare in PvP (maybe disable the effects there altogether?). In PvE, eh, probably not, I do not think we will see "must have +10% First Strike" or something when groups are being put together.

 

However, it is absolute looter shooter RNG galore (bringing back some nasty flashbacks from Division and Anthem). I get that you want this to be a credit sink, but most of the über-rich people will not do it anyway, as all they do is camp GTN, so they have no use for gameplay buffs.

 

I think what is needed is to separate the type and value rolls, as was said in this thread, allow us to roll for what buff we need, then for a value of it, even if it is at somewhat higher price than rolling both at once.

Also a complete list of possibilities and value ranges should be somewhere (though I am sure it will show up at Vulkk, SMW, Jedipedia, etc. immediately and be easier to access than digging through codex).

[nkarapinha]

Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)

The first time i looked no.

I did not see the amplifiers button on the char window, the windows that opens after clicking its cool in terms of UI.

I just don't think it will improve the overall UI experience.

To many windows as popups.

I think it could work better as a tab or the button could work like the outfits button that when clicked changes the char UI and instead of the stats it could show all amplifiers listed there. (just my personal opinion)

The gear tool-tips seems nice.

 

Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?

At first time no, the place where the amps are its not clear at first glance.

At least for the gear amps, the mods are placed okay.

Repositioning the gear amp could improve the UI.

 

Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?

I think the price and the price increase after reroll is okay and fair

[ZionHalcyon]

*Edit*

 

My original suggestion on further reflection doesn't make sense.

 

However I would like to change the suggestion. Rerolling amplifiers MUST have a cap on it prior to live.

 

It's one thing to test them out when we can just go to Oddessen and generate more credits.

 

But I can see people getting PISSED at the extremely high prices when trying to find that perfect amplifier reroll and a string of bad luck occurs.

 

My suggestion is a 50k cap. Meaning the price escalates as it does on PTS, but NEVER goes higher than 50k credits a roll. At that point, it feels reasonable between stopping the bleeding, at what someone can reasonably make in a period of time in the game.

 

50k cap would be perfect.

 

Also, you should know there is 2 more bugs - we can't roll on vendor-equipment granted gear in armorings and mods. It just is blank. Only shells and enhancements seem to be working now (haven't gotten a barrel to test yet).

 

Also, when rolling for a new augment, only the tooltips of the first re-roll show. If you reroll again, it will be different, yes, but the hover over will only show the description of the very first augments you re-rolled.

Edited September 2, 2019 by ZionHalcyon

[crimsonaaron]

Were you able to easily understand what amplifiers you have and what they do? (from the UI only)

For the most part, yes.The only issue here is the tooltip will only have the description of whichever amplifier you hovered over first in rerolling.

Do you understand how to reroll/change an amplifier?

Yes, I like that I am able to view all of the amplifiers on one page and edit them from there, but also go into an individual piece of gear and edit the amplifiers from the modification page as well.

Does the cost for changing amplifiers feel right? Too high or too low?

The cost feels way too high. It's fine at first but with the exponential growth, I found myself spending multiple millions of credits on each reroll looking for a specfic amplifier due to bad rng. A credit cap on what reroll costs is one solution, but another could be to allow the player to control the randomness. What I mean by that is having all posibilities for an amplifier available but being able to filter it similar to how we can filter group finder flashpoints, with the cost increasing the more that is filtered out. Doing it that way could lower a true random to be much less expensive, a class specific type of roll to be about where it is now, and a single amplifier to be a bit more expensive.

[elspethfire]

Hello

 

so i went and tried out the amplifiers and well when i went in and tried to change them but when i hit update to change it it never changed for me on my toon so idk if im the only one who had this issues but i would hope when teh new patch this issues will be fixed but if not hopefully u will see it

 

thanks